Indianapolis Colts

The Colts traded up to draft George, making him the first pick in the 1990 NFL Draft,^[3] and signed him to the richest rookie contract in NFL history at the time (worth a total of $15 million). George threw 46 interceptions to 41 touchdowns and lost 35 of his 49 career starts as a Colt; his only winning season with the Colts was 1992, during which he played ten games and threw 15 interceptions to seven touchdowns. Before the 1993 season, he refused to report to training camp and only returned to the team when Jim Irsay made it clear that George would have to pay a huge penalty fee for breach of contract if he did not get back to work. The Colts traded George to the Atlanta Falcons after the 1993 season.

Atlanta Falcons

In 1995, George led the Falcons to their first playoff appearance since 1991. On September 22, 1996, in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles, George got into a heated argument on the sidelines with Falcons coach June Jones, all of which was caught on camera for a national television audience. Jones suspended George for the remainder of the 1996 season. It was later confirmed that George blamed team management for his problems and felt Jones betrayed him by not standing up to this alleged mistreatment. Years after the incident, Jones became an advocate for George, stating that the TV argument was overblown and that George was a good quarterback, a team player and worthy of being on an NFL roster.

George's record with the Falcons was 16–19; he had the best completion percentage (60.5) of his career with 50 touchdowns and 32 interceptions.

Oakland Raiders

George signed with the Oakland Raiders for the 1997 after leaving the Falcons. The Oilers, in their first home game since their controversial relocation from Houston, ruined George's debut (he threw three touchdowns to Tim Brown) by beating the Raiders, 24–21, on an Al Del Greco field goal in overtime. A notable moment for the Silver and Black came in Week 8; against the visiting Broncos, George delivered a workmanlike performance (9-12, 96 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT). Thanks in large part to Napoleon Kaufman's 227-yard performance on the ground, the host Raiders upset the eventual Super Bowl champions, 28–25. In his eighth year in the NFL, he had arguably his finest statistical year, throwing for 29 touchdown passes and 9 interceptions, for a 91.2 passer rating. However, despite George's stellar statistics, the team struggled overall; their defense finished 28th in scoring. Oakland finished 4–12 in Joe Bugel's one and only season as the Raiders' head coach.

The following year, the offense changed to head coach Jon Gruden's West Coast offense, a controlled-pass approach which did not suit George's strengths. George was inconsistent at the beginning of the year, and later struggled with a groin pull, telling a local radio audience that he was finished for the year. He also ignored the offensive coordinator's play calls during the 1998 season and ran his own plays through a wristband containing plays (in an interview, George told Joe Theismann that he did what the coaches wanted on 1st and 2nd down, and simply threw it to Tim Brown on 3rd down). The Raiders essentially ended George's Oakland tenure when they signed free-agent quarterback Rich Gannon.

Minnesota Vikings

After being cut by Oakland, George initially found himself without anywhere to play in 1999; an article at SI.com had several coaches (including Dick Vermeil, Mike Ditka, and Mike Holmgren) go on record about how George wasn't a winner and would not be considered by them despite their own poor/uncertain QB issues. However, the article also said that the Vikings had interest in George at a low salary to be the backup to Randall Cunningham, and George accepted that offer before training camp began. Cunningham struggled at the start of the 1999 season and was benched, and George took over the starting role. In 10 games as a starter George went 8–2 with 23 touchdowns, 8.6 yards per attempt, and a 94.2 rating, in leading Minnesota to the playoffs. George then earned his first career playoff win, throwing three touchdown passes to lead the Vikings over the Dallas Cowboys, 27–10. The Vikings lost the next week to the eventual Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams, 49–37. Minnesota wanted George to return in 2000 but the combination of him delaying contract talks and the team's confidence that Daunte Culpepper could take over at QB led the Vikings to cut ties with him. George ended up signing with the Washington Redskins.

Washington Redskins

George hoped to return to Minnesota as a starting quarterback but was told by head coach Dennis Green to "shop around". After attempting to speak to other teams about securing a starting quarterback job, he was eventually offered a one-year, $400,000 contract by Minnesota, with incentives of up to $1.4 million. Rather than sign with the Vikings, George signed a four-year contract worth $14.8 million with the Washington Redskins as Brad Johnson's backup.^[4] Johnson went down in week 9; George replaced him and went 1–2 in the next three games. Johnson returned but played poorly against the New York Giants. George replaced him and started two games, both losses, after Norv Turner was fired in favor of interim coach Terry Robiskie. After the season, Johnson departed Washington for Tampa Bay, leaving George as the Redskins' starter going into 2001.

Before the 2001 season, Washington hired as head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who promised to install a West Coast scheme similar to that of Gruden in Oakland. George clashed with Schottenheimer over the offense, though the coach promised to work George through any problems he might have with the scheme. Washington released George after a 37–0 Monday Night loss to the Green Bay Packers, in which George had a 34.6 passer rating, the worst in the first two weeks of the 2001 season. The Redskins were 0–2, having been outscored 67–3. George was given 24 hours to remove his personal items from the Redskins' facilities before they were discarded. He was replaced by Tony Banks, who led the team to finish the season with an 8–8 record after they had begun with a record of 0–5.

Seattle Seahawks

George seemingly retired after his last game in Washington, but he proceeded to make several sideline appearances in the following years. He signed briefly with the Seattle Seahawks in late 2002 as an emergency quarterback.

Chicago Bears

In 2004, after two years away from the game, George joined his seventh club, the Chicago Bears. It was a homecoming of sorts, George having played college football with the Illini. The Bears signed George to a one-year contract in November, intending to have him for a backup role; he never took the field during a game. George was not retained by the Bears for the 2005 season, nor was he signed by any other team. The Detroit Lions worked him out during their bye week but did not offer him a contract.

Oakland Raiders (second stint)

On August 28, 2006, the Oakland Raiders signed George. He was expected to compete for the third-string quarterback position. However, he was released during final cuts only five days later on September 2, 2006.